Kakao under probe for allegedly abusing market power: sources

SEJONG (Yonhap) – South Korea's antitrust watchdog has launched an investigation into Kakao Corp., the operator of the country's most-used messenger service Kakao Talk, for possibly abusing its market leader position, industry sources said Thursday.

Kakao is also under investigation by the Fair Trade Commission (FTC) over allegations that it had also abused its market dominance in deals with another service supplier, SK Planet.

According to insiders, Kakao Talk has come under scrutiny after it unilaterally nullified a contract with SK Planet that had sold mobile gift certificates on-line. SK Planet had entered the mobile gift certificate business in 2007 and signed a partnership agreement with Kakao Talk in 2011. The latter, however, nullified the pact in June after it decided to enter the gift certificate field on its own.